The Calgary Flames absolutely manhandled the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night, beating the second overall team in the NHL, 7-2. The win moved the Flames up in the league standings to 26th overall and is exactly the wrong thing for the Flames to be doing at this late stage of the season.
The simple reality this season is that the Flames are rebuilding after years of coming close but missing the playoffs. And while getting a top-15 pick every year is nice, it clearly isn't making this team any better.
The surest predictor of success in the NHL is goalscoring, and that's something Calgary does not have. The top seven teams in the NHL right now also happen to be the top seven teams in goals for. The Flames, meanwhile, are 28th in goals for (159), and their best scorer this year, Jiri Hudler, is 66th in the league in points (44).
I'm a fan of Hudler, but he's not going to be the guy to deliver the Flames to the promised land. What they need is a couple front-line scorers, and the longer you have to wait to make your first pick, the less likely you'll get one of those guys.
More than three-quarters of the way throu ...
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Article written by Jim Flannery
Calgary Flames Must Not Have a Strong Finish to the Season
March 13th, 2014 by Jim Flannery Leave a reply »
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